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Our 2026 Garden: onion, eggplant and pepper seedlings, plus an update

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I got a little bit of garden therapy in, while checking on my seed starts.

I also remembered to get a picture of how the onions are doing in the seed snail experiment.

I’m actually debating whether it’s time to “pot up” the onions. That would involve unrolling the snails, adding more soil (at this stage, I would be using potting soil rather than seed starting mix), then rolling them back up into thicker snails. I made sure to have plenty of excess foam packing material being used here to accommodate extra thickness. I think I might wait a bit longer, though.

You might have noticed the tips of the onions look dry and shriveled. I think that’s from getting too close to the shop light before I raised it higher. Currently, they have the shop light on for part of the day, but for 12 hours on a timer, they are getting full spectrum light from the larger new lamp I picked up.

In the next couple of pictures, you can see new seedlings from the pre-germinated seed starts. Well… almost see! The row at the bottom of the picture is the Caspar Eggplant, and three seedlings have broken ground. In the middle is the Sweet Chocolate Pepper, and five seedlings have appeared, a couple just barely visible through the vermiculate. The top row is the California Wonder pepper. It took some searching, but I did see the curved stems of seedlings just barely visible through the vermiculite.

In the last picture, you can see the largest of the Sweet Chocolate peppers.

I turn the shop light on for part of the day for these, too, but they also have full spectrum lights on for 12 hours. I’ve got two lights fixtures with four light strips each, and I’ve got them set up so that five light strips are over the full tray, then three strips are over the celery and luffa in the other tray. The strips with the herbs I recently sowed are off to one end of the tray, closer to the heater that I have set up to blow warm air over both trays.

I have the full spectrum light strips quite close to the surfaces of the trays. As the seedlings get larger, I can raise each strip individually, as needed. Right now, for example, the container with the celery is lower than the Red Solo Cups the luffa are in (still just the one seedling in those), so it has its own light strip that’s lower than the two that are over the taller Red Solo Cups.

I’ve made a point of spending time in the basement to have the heater on. Usually, that’s my time to do my steps (I have a step counter on my phone), but I also go over my notes. I have lists of things based on how many weeks before last frost they should be started. What I have so far has been started early, based on a June 2 last frost date, though the newly revised average has our last frost date in a range of dates at the end of May, potentially adding as much as a week to our growing season.

Looking at the calendar, I made sure to write down when the next batches of seeds should be started, though I can get away with some, like the herbs and the marigolds, to be started early. Some of them are things that could be grown in pots indoors, and are more flexible. I am mightily resisting starting tomatoes! Those are next on the list but, if I were to go by calendar dates, they shouldn’t be started until the middle of March. Being short season varieties, I could theoretically wait even longer.

I don’ wanna wait that loooonnnggg!!! <insert childish whining> 😂🤣😂

Still, spending some time with the plants and thinking these things through, even for as little time as it was, was enough to make me feel better than I have been for much of today.

In other things, I phoned my mother today. In the TCU, she can’t have a phone in her room. I call the nursing station and they transfer me to a cordless phone that they take to the person being called. They tried transferring me four times before it finally worked!

My mother was very, very happy for the call, and said she had been thinking of calling me. I reminded her that, where she is now, it’s a long distance call.

She really wants a phone and was asking if we could get her a phone, like other people have. Meaning, a cell phone.

Now, there’s no way my mother can handle a Smartphone. She could barely handle the new phone my brother got for her at her apartment, to replace her old set, and it was actually simpler than the one she had before. Still more bells and whistles than desired, and things were in slightly different locations, and that was enough to give her a hard time. My brother tried so hard to find the simplest phone set – a corded phone with an answering machine, plus two cordless phones for her dining table and bedroom – that he could, but everything has bells and whistles these days.

I do know there are cell phones made for seniors out there, so I plan to do some research later today and see what’s available here in Canada.

I explained to her that she would have to buy a phone and have a monthly phone bill. Her response was, she has money that’s just sitting in the bank, not doing anything, so she doesn’t mind using it. She currently has no idea what’s going on with her banking right now, as my brother is taking care of it for her. None of us have tried to explain to her that the hospital back dated their billing for her stay there, which was charged daily. Plus, her rent for February was taken out, but as my brother explained my mother’s situation and why he wasn’t able to give them a month’s notice, it will be refunded. Until then, she’s being double billed for the month, which she would not be able to understand and would freak out over if we tried to explain it to her. My brother is the best person to be taking care of all this for her, and I assured he, even though he’s still out of the country, he’s on top of all this and taking care of things for her.

Then I told her that I had going to mass yesterday, where prayers were said for her health, which she was very happy to hear about. I then told her I had been on the way to visit her when something went wrong with the truck, and I had to get a tow truck. She immediately said, I need a new vehicle. *sigh* As if we don’t know that! So I told her about my BIL driving me home in his truck, and that he was planning on selling it in the summer. If we can come up with $5000 by then, we will buy it from him. It took a while before I realized she didn’t know who I was talking about at first, so I said my BIL’s name again. Oh! You mean… and then she said his Polish name (his family are also from Poland). 😄 So she was pretty keen on the idea of our getting a truck from him.

We talked about a bunch of other stuff for a while. She’s not liking where she is right now, and I can’t blame her one bit. Not only is she now in a smaller room that’s being shared with someone else, it’s very close to the nursing station, which is right next to the entry doors. Lots of traffic, lots of noise. I explained to her that everyone else there is waiting to go somewhere else, like she is. Her response was, I don’t care about anyone else. I just care about me. *sigh* I said it meant that she would be seeing a lot of changes in who is there with her. She is doing a lot better, as far as care needed, than many others and that’s part of the problem; people with higher needs are going to get beds in nursing homes faster than her, typically. I reminded her that, when it came to nursing home spaces, we’re basically waiting for people to die, as that’s pretty much the only way beds get freed up. She thought that we could talk to people about getting her into a nursing home faster, because where she is is not good for her health. I told her, where she is now is the first step, but in the end, it’s the ultimately the provincial government that decides. So she said we should tell them to build an addition to the nursing home she wants to live in.

…

*sigh*

I didn’t even try to explain. Our province certainly needs more beds for long term care and assisted living, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

Our conversation went all over, and she gave me messages to pass on to my siblings. I mentioned again that it’s long distance for me to call her now, but not for my sister. She was all surprised by that (not sure why; my sister lives only 15 minutes away, at most) and started saying my sister should phone her more often! She’s not understanding that it’s harder to do that through the nursing station where she is than how it was before. Then she wanted to know when I would be visiting her next. I reminded her, the truck was at the garage and we have no idea how long it will be, before we have transportation again.

Oh, so you want me to give you money for the truck now?

?????

I said no, I was just letting you know that it might be a while before I can visit and why. That’s all!

I can give you a check…

????!!!

I told her again, I wasn’t wanting anything like that. I was just letting her know why I might not be able to visit anytime soon, but we just don’t know right now.

But the money is just sitting there, not doing anything… I can write a check.

???!!!

Finally I deflected and said, we can talk about it the next time I visit. She happily agreed with that and we dropped it.

I wasn’t going to ask, but I’m not sure if she was offering to pay for the repairs, or to give us funds to buy the truck from my BIL! I fully expect her to forget about it long before I’m able to visit her again, and I will certainly not bring it up again! The offer was totally out of the blue and not at all what I meant by telling her about the truck. That’s the sort of thing our vandal was constantly doing to her and my late father for many years, which might be why she thought that, by telling her about the truck, I was actually asking her for money. I do appreciate the offer, but I will not ask or bring it up again.

Over all, for all that my mother is not liking where she is, she did sound happy. Even when, at one point, she started rather playfully referring to herself as an “orphan” for being there. She told me to make sure to pass that on to my sister, so she will call and visit more often. 😁

I really hope my mother isn’t there for very long. Still, it’s the first step to getting her where she wants to be, at least.

Meanwhile, I’ve got my homework assignment, and will start seeing if there is some sort of phone out there that will work for her and where she is. That won’t be easy!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties, updates, and yes, I got more seeds

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First, the cuteness!

The outside cats are certainly running around a lot more, now that things are warming up! It’s going to get quiet pleasant for the rest of February, according to the long range forecast, though the local weather group I follow is monitoring a weather system that might push a Colorado Low into our area.

I never got a call from the hospital yesterday, so I called them before going to bed. I’m glad I did, because my mother called me this morning!

She is still in the hospital, all packed and ready for her transfer. She told me she asked the staff about when she was leaving, and that they told her they didn’t know how she would be transported. Which is strange, since they told me from the start that they are arranging her transport.

The doctor at the hospital was never able to connect with the doctor and the temporary care unit, and that’s why she didn’t get transported yesterday. I explained that to her, and assured her that the hospital would be arranging the transportation. Likely with a HandiVan, rather than an ambulance. My mother didn’t even know where she was going, other than it would be in the smaller, nearer city. I told her, she would be in the old hospital, now converted to temporary long term care, but that we still didn’t know where in the building she would be. She was satisfied with that. She sounded like she was really looking forward to the transfer!

Late this morning, I headed out to the feed store in the town my mother no longer has an apartment in. 😄 We’re heading into the middle of February already (how did that happen so quickly???), and we still had kibble, so I only got three 40 pound bags. I also ordered some lysine, which should be in on Monday. Or Tuesday. Monday is a statutory holiday (it has different names in different provinces) and I think they will be closed.

Since I ordered that chicken coop – which got shipped yesterday already! – I stopped to ask some questions about chickens. The two people that were there at the time got quite enthused in answering them! I’ll need to set up a brooder (I already have the heat lamp, currently being used in the sun room for the cats). They gave me a booklet from the hatchery they get their chicks from that has all the information needed. I know we still have feeders and whatnot in the old log building my parents used as a chicken coop when I was a kid, but I’m not about to go digging those out. They’ve been there for probably 30 or more years by now. I honestly can’t remember when my parents stopped keeping chickens.

I asked them which breed they would recommend for someone just starting out and looking for layers. They both very enthusiastically recommended Browns. They were really impressed with the number and size of the eggs this breed lays, plus they are known to be quiet, friendly and clean.

The chicken coop that’s on its way is big enough for only 10 chickens, which is a bit of a problem. The hatchery’s minimum order is 24 chicks. There is, however, someone else that’s looking for only a few chicks, so they took my name down alongside theirs. If they can find one more person, they can split a shipment, and the shipping costs, after the chicks arrive. It costs a bit more for sexed chicks, but with only 10, I don’t want to have any roosters in there. By the time everything is added together, it should cost me about $75 for 10 chicks. Meanwhile, I can slowly start picking up the other supplies I will need, like feeders and waterers. I can get pine shavings locally.

Over time, as we build bigger coops, we’ll look at getting meat birds, too. If we’re looking to fill the freezer for a year, we’d be looking at at least 100 meat hens, so that would require a much bigger coop! Or multiple smaller ones. It’s a shame the building my parents used can’t be used. We might still be able to fix it up at some point – it’s still in good enough shape for that, at least – but that is very much a long term project.

Once I was done there, I topped up the gas tank ($1.279/L *sigh*), then went to the grocery store. I was mostly looking to get more rye bread, but found a few more things, of course – including some tri-tip beef that was on sale. Beef has become something where local prices tend to be better than Costco prices. At least when the sales are on. Still high, but at least affordable enough to grab the odd package now and then.

I also got sucked in, as soon as I walked in the door.

There was a seed display. The first I’ve seen this year!

Of course, I had to look, and yes, I did get seeds.

The first are some double marigolds. These are something I want to scatter plant all over the various garden beds, wherever there is space. They can be started indoors 4-6 weeks before last frost, so around the middle of April or beginning of May. Marigolds are easy to collect seed from, so I should hopefully be able to collect some for next year.

I also got some yellow zucchini, because I just can’t have too many summer squash! These can be started 3-4 weeks before last frost, so in the beginning of May.

Both can actually be direct sown, too, so I might try a bit of both. It depends on how much room I find myself with.

I seriously had to resist buying more!

So we are set for the next while. I don’t need to head out anywhere again until it’s time to take the truck in to get the differential leak fixed – a 2 hour job. I had intended to visit my mother while the work was being done, but she shouldn’t be there anymore. Depending on when they can start working on the truck, once it’s done, I will likely to head to the city my mother will be in, to hit a Walmart and a Canadian Tire, both of which are quite close to the old hospital building she is being transferred to.

I’m actually surprised I haven’t gotten a call from the hospital yet. That means she hasn’t been transferred yet. I would have hoped the doctors had connected by now!

Ah, well. We shall see. The main thing is, she is safe and care for, either way.

Now… time to start pouring through that hatchery booklet I picked up today!

The Re-Farmer

Addendum: Oh! I just hit publish when a message from my brother came in. The hospital just called him. My mother is transferred, safe and sound!

Good news and not so good news

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For an at home day, quite a bit has been happening!

But first, the cuteness.

Because we must have cuteness.

Now, we get into some medical stuff.

I was originally planning to head out to the feed store today, but I completely forgot about that, because of something that happened last night.

I was having a late snack of brie and pimiento stuffed olives. My first thought, when I felt something hard and immediately stopped biting down, was that I’d found a broken piece of olive pit. I’d already found one earlier.

I immediately discarded that idea, because it felt wrong. In fact, it felt more like a piece of tooth.

Yeah, I’ve had that happen before, too.

After very carefully clearing my mouth, I spit out the hard thing. Sure enough, it was a chunk of tooth. The far side of a molar at the very back of my mouth. One that already had a root canal, done probably close to 35 years ago, so there was no pain.

The weird thing?

I’d been to the dentist a few months ago because I was having pain and thought I had a cavity. There was no cavity there and nothing on the Xrays. Mostly, though, I have been having trouble chewing on that side. I’d bite on something – even something soft – and there would be a sharp pain. The problem was, the tooth that seemed to be where the pain was, had a root canal and should not have been having any pain at all. Which meant it could have been one of the teeth on either side of it. All the tests the dentist did to try and recreate that pain, failed, and he could not work out which tooth was hurting me. So, nothing was done.

That was in the lower jaw. The tooth that broke is in the upper jaw on the same side.

Yet, I no longer have pain in that area of my lower jaw.

So there is no pain in that area at all, upper or lower jaw, but I do have a sharp bit my tongue is catching on where the piece of tooth is missing. There’s now a risk the filling might break off, or more of the tooth will break.

This morning, I called the dentist to see how quickly they could get me in.

After explaining what happened and confirming that I am not in any pain right now, they booked me in as early as possible.

March 27. More than a month from now!

I am, however, on their cancellation list, and they will try to fit me in as quickly as possible. If I do start having problems with the tooth, I’m to call them back and they’ll get me in on an emergency basis.

That particular call for an appointment was unplanned. I did have another planned call. This time to my doctor to book an appointment. Got some womanly stuff at issue. I’ve been happily post-menopausal for more than 20 years. I hit menopause very early, and had zero issues of any kind. Well, now I seem to have started my cycles again. Nothing big, mostly just spotting, but still, it shouldn’t be happening. I’m not overly worried. I’m at the age women typically go into menopause, so who knows. Something to check out, anyhow.

I’m not looking forward to it.

That’s the not so good news.

Now for the good news.

With the calls and appointments made, I settled in to work on my crochet for a while, when I got a call from the hospital.

They have found a temporary care unit bed for my mother! She’s being moved today.

It’s not in her top choice location, but we stressed with her to take anything that comes available. Once she’s in the system, it’ll be much easier to get her transferred to the nursing home she actually wants to be in.

The temporary care unit is in the nearer city. When they built the new hospital we’ve been going to so often, as that’s where they have the diagnostic equipment needed, the old hospital was converted to temporary long term care. Which means they’ll have more activities and such available.

They still had to go through the process of doctors talking to doctors, nurses to nurses, transferring of files, and then they will transport her over. I’m supposed to get a call once they actually move her and give me as much information as they can. Right now, we just know the building she’s going to be in. Nothing about what floor or room or anything like that. I should know that by the end of today, if all goes smoothly.

Once that is done, we will officially be the furthest away from my mother. My sister will be just 15 minutes away, and even my brother will be closer than we are! Casual visits from our end will be far less often. That will change back again when she is eventually transferred to where she wants to be, since that’s only blocks away from the hospital she’s in right now.

I really, really hope my mother behaves. 😉😁

The Re-Farmer

A quiet day

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We were actually able to make today a day of rest! What a novel concept.

I will, of course, start with the cuteness.

That self warming cat shelter is just crushed. 😄 When it’s time to clean out the catio, I’ll have to find a way to add supports inside it. Even under a shelf, that cats still jump on it.

One of the things I’ve been doing in the last few days, as things have been warming up, is removing the snow from the roof of the catio and the isolation shelter. They did their job as insulating in the winter, but now I actually want more light to get inside them.

The isolation shelter is a bit easier. There was a fair bit of ice under the snow that needed to be broken loose; heat from inside was enough to melt the snow, which then froze in sheets. Once that was clear, I just needed to lift the roof and allow the last bits of snow and ice fall off, and anything melted to drain.

The catio, however, is different. Not only does the roof not lift off, but the top under the roof is just wire mesh. There are no supports other than the frame itself. That meant things started to sag in the middle, where I found a sheet of ice almost 2 inches thick in places! I could also only work at clearing it from the front of the catio, since the other three sides are deep with snow. I did have to access the end facing the house to do some repairs. I think, when my brother used the snow blower to clear enough space in front of the storage house to back up his truck, snow was hitting the end of the catio and tore the plastic. Some snow had even gotten inside and onto the cat shelf at that end. I have clear repair tape (looks a lot like packing tape, but is much stronger, with better adhesive) and had to stand in snow above my knees to get at it!

Now that the tears are fixed and the roof is as clear as I could get it, the inside of the catio is brighter, and quite warm. I spotted Fancypants and Larence in there this morning. This afternoon, there was a fluffy kitten in there. It seems to really like the catio and hangs out where quite a bit, but is feral enough to be quite alarmed when I go to add food and water. I didn’t need to add water this afternoon, though. It was warm enough in there that the water I added this morning was still liquid!

Aside for the usual outside stuff, I’ve kept things quiet today. I’ve started working on a crochet project, using some new self-striping yarn I picked up last month. I’m a little ticked, though. I re-wrapped them from skeins into center pull balls. About 3/4 through the first one, I found a knot, with a dark colour tied off to a light colour. Then I found three more knots, within a few feet! So much for graduated colour changes. The other skein didn’t have any knots in it, so I started my project with that one. I’m planning to make a hooded cowl.

I did do something else that was more frustrating than it should have been. I’ve been trying to buy a chicken coop kit. There’s nothing local available that is affordable. My first attempts failed because the designs I found don’t ship to our location. Then I found ones that did and tried to use the “Affirm” payment plan to order one that can hold up to 10 chickens. (The best I could find locally could only house 4 chickens at most, and cost twice as much.) The problem with that is, they couldn’t verify our address. They couldn’t even verify the address for the store the post office is in! Which makes no sense.

After several attempts, I finally just ordered it without the payment plan. A larger chunk on my credit card than I wanted all at once. Well, I know where my tax return will be going… *sigh* Remarkably, it will actually ship to our post office box, and could potentially arrive before the end of the week! If so, I might be able to pick it up on the way home from taking the truck to the garage on Thursday.

Assembly required, of course, and we’ll have to figure out where to store the boxes until spring. This is something that can be placed fairly close to the house, for better shelter from the elements, and will hopefully last us until we can finally build the mobile chicken coop I’ve been wanting to build for years. Until then, little by little, we can pick up the supplies needed to feed and water them, etc., and order chicks in the spring. Or buy adult chickens. The homesteader I used to buy eggs from has been selling off her birds in batches – she went way overboard in chickens! – and she might still have some available in the spring. I’ve already been thinking ahead for growing food for the chickens in the garden, too, so we’re not using only purchased chicken feed. (Which we can buy at the store the post office is in.)

Hopefully, it will be a better growing year this year than last!

It’ll be nice to finally have our own eggs. Plus, I want to make mobile runs for them that will fit over our garden beds, so they can clean up the weeds and seeds and fertilize them, at the end of the season. Chickens are good for the garden!

In other things, I got a strange call from my mother last night. She started out by lamenting about how it’s been soooooo long since I visited her (I had visited her two days before) and no one was calling her, etc. I told her, I was just there! Oh, well, when will you visit next? I told her, the only day I know for sure I’ll be in town is Thursday, when I’m dropping the truck off at the garage for some more work. Oh, but that’s so far away (meaning in time, not distance)!

*sigh*

Then she started on the reason for her call.

She apparently asked the nursing staff and they said that yes, she can do this. She wants to start getting her prescriptions herself, instead of through the hospital.

She is still convinced they are giving her the wrong medications. On purpose.

I told her that I would have to call her doctor to get her prescriptions sent to a pharmacy where she is. I had to explain to her again, they still won’t be the same. They have different suppliers than her pharmacy in the town she lived in had. It would be the same medications, but they would look a bit different. Probably exactly the same as the ones she’s getting in the hospital.

Then it got to the main point.

Her vision is getting “dimmer”. She thinks it’s because they are not giving her the vitamin she was getting in her bubble packs.

After a few more questions to figure out what happening, I had to walk her through her wet and dry macular degeneration again. The vitamins she was taking were for her dry macular degeneration – where she was seeing straight lines as wavy. The “dimming” that she is seeing is from her wet macular degeneration, and that is what she was going to the special clinic in the city to get injections into her eyeball for. A trip she can no longer handle, without proper transportation assistance. There is no where else she can go for that treatment, because no one else does it.

She still wanted to get her meds switched away from the hospital providing them (which would be covered by our province’s pharmacare insurance, either way). She is simply convinced they’re giving her the wrong medications, and nothing will dissuade her.

In the end, we talked about how she’s there temporarily, so maybe we should deal with that after she’s in a permanent location.

After our call, I called the hospital back to talk to someone at the nursing station. I told her about my mother saying her vision is getting worse, but that this would require a trip to the city for testing/treatment, etc.

What we could do is make an appointment, and the hospital would arrange a HandiVan to transport her to it. Even then, we know it would be very hard on my mother to make that trip. She suggested we try getting her an appointment at the one local eye clinic in town. It would be much easier for them to arrange transportation, and the eye doctors there could give us more information on what our next steps could be.

I also explained about my mother wanting to get her own prescriptions and what I explained to her, which was confirmed, and that she agreed to wait until she was placed somewhere more permanently. Any news on that?

Nope. Nothing. In fact, they’ve got others in the hospital that have been waiting for months to get into a personal care home.

*sigh*

Frustrating, to be sure, but my mother doesn’t understand how fortunate she is to be in the hospital right now, rather than back in her apartment. Especially with how unreliable home care has been. She has exactly what she was wanting: to be living where there is someone available, particularly at night, should she need help with things. Unfortunately, now that she’s there, she expects them to “fix” her somehow.

*sigh*

Not much we can do to help her with that.

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: first signs, and more potted seeds

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But first, the cuteness!

Just a little video of the adorableness that kept trying to run into the house while we were unloading the Costco shop. He would be such a great indoor cat! He’s not “perfect”, though. Aside from the one messed up eye – which doesn’t seem to bother him, but does make him at greater risk if he decides to expand his territory in the summer – he likely has some upper respiratory issues. He’s been better since we’ve gotten more lysine to add to their food, but it basically makes him unadoptable.

The rescue can’t even help with him. They’ve had to stop all intakes. They are out of fosters and there are no more spaces for more cats.

*sigh*

I also realized today that I haven’t seen Rolando Moon for quite some time. She does tend to disappear for weeks, sometimes months, at a time, but usually in the summer, not the winter. Considering I got pictures of her when I visited my dad here, back in 2015, I’d estimate she would be around 14-15 years old, if not older. We did try to make her an indoor cat, but she would have none of it.

*sigh*

Anyhow.

I just got back from checking on our seed dungeon in the basement. I found fresh green!

The first picture in the slideshow above is our very first Golden Boy celery seedlings! There’s just the two, but I will now keep the lid open on the container I’m using for them, so they don’t have to deal with too much humidity.

The second picture is of the first pre-germinated luffa breaking ground. I now know at least one has survived being potted after pre-germination!

I didn’t take a picture, but I also potted more Caspar eggplant, and the first couple of California Wonder bell peppers that have pre-germinated.

Thinking ahead to the next batch of seeds I will be starting (herbs, this time), and when, I have placed an Amazon order for a couple more heat mats, plus some full spectrum lamps. Their prices were very reasonable, so I got one floor lamp with a tripod stand and two table top lamps. They have multiple full spectrum LED light strips on gooseneck supports, so they can be adjusted to provide light over several different trays at once, and the trays don’t have to be crammed together. The floor lamp has 5 light strips, while the smaller ones have four. The smaller ones have clips for bases. I would have preferred with a stand, but that didn’t seem to be an option at all for the smaller ones. They also have auto on/off timers.

They haven’t been shipped yet, but according to Amazon, they should arrive by the 18th. That should keep me from starting more seeds too early! 😄

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: onion snails doing well

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I got to stay home today, for a change!

I did get messages back from the garage about the truck, but nothing about coming in. I’m not sure the problem is the sensor, after finding some oil on the ground in the garage yesterday. It was a while before I went out to move it today, so that I could check the oil levels, and see if there were any new oil stains under it.

There was. Just a couple of drops.

*sigh*

Oil levels were fine. I’m going to have to take a chance, though, and at least make a trip to the nearest Walmart. We’ve used the last of our canned cat food today, and the dry kibble is starting to get low, too.

It was a nice enough day that, after checking on the truck, I stayed out to clear some of the paths that got filled with drifted snow, after two days of high winds. Happily, the plows have gone by, so the roads will be clear. Things are supposed to keep warming up over the next few days, which is going to be quite a relief.

Of course, that makes me think of gardening!

The peppers and eggplant seeds that are set to pre-germinate aren’t showing any radicals yet, nor to I expect them to, this soon. Next on the list was things like tomatoes and herbs, but after watching the above video, I will just be doing the herbs, first. I sorted seeds I’ll be starting by how many weeks before last frost the packages recommend starting them. In theory, I could start the tomatoes in April.

I just really, really want to start more seeds! 😄

I realized it’s been a while since I updated about the onions. All four snail rolls now have seedlings.

They’re tall enough now that I raised the light a bit today. Should they get big enough to need “potting up”, they can be unrolled, more seed starting mix added, then rolled back up again. I made sure to leave enough excess length of the packing foam to accommodate extra width.

Just a little green growth to sooth the gardening soul, as winter drags on!

The Re-Farmer

Brutal… but it’s done!

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It was white knuckle time at the end, but we did it.

My mother’s apartment is now completely empty.

At our end, things started after my brother got here and started working on their truck. Which he had to dig his way to. After clearing the barn door enough to open it to access their shovels, etc. He was able to plug in the block heater and left it to warm up before getting their snow blower out.

When I saw he was here, I went out and checked on the truck. It started fine and, at first, that oil pressure gauge was actually in the normal range, which was encouraging. After backing it out a bit, I found a single drop of fresh oil under the truck and that was it. Oil levels were fine. Yay!

Then I caught up with my brother and we worked things out. He would continue with the snow blowing and getting their truck ready, and I would go to my mother’s apartment, where my SIL was already at work packing.

There were a few little delays as he remembered to load up a cart to help carry things to the truck, and so on. In that time, I noticed…

The needle on the oil pressure gauge was dropping again.

*sigh*

It dropped to the same level it was at when I drove the truck home yesterday, then didn’t move. Not that I could focus on it much during the drive in. While today’s temperature was a lot warmer, the wind was insane. It wasn’t even snowing yet, but there was so much blowing snow on the highway that I was hitting white outs, even without snow kicked up by oncoming traffic. Once I was parked, I took a picture of the oil pressure gauge and texted it to our mechanic, as described how things had gone. Then I headed inside.

My SIL had been very busy. We were all shocked by how much was left. My sister didn’t take everything she was supposed to. I think she misunderstood and thought she was to take the things she wanted to keep, plus the stuff my mother specifically wanted her to take, not help empty the place.

There were boxes packed and ready, though, so I immediately started loading up the truck. It wasn’t long before I had as much as I could fit, so I headed back home, messaging my daughters before I left, so they would be prepared to assembly line things into the basement.

I also got a response from the garage. He found what was going on very strange. He said it could be two things: a problem with the engine, or the sensor – and the engine checked out fine when he was working on it yesterday. Which means, it is the sensor. Yet another common issue with our make and model of truck.

Definitely not going with GM again in the future.

I asked him if the sensor was still on warranty – it was replaced maybe a year ago – but whether it is or not, I asked how soon I could bring it in to be fixed. He will check on Monday and get back to me.

So, basically the truck is fine. Which is good, because I did a lot of driving today!

When I got home, I found my brother had gotten the snow blowing done, including clearing a path to the storage house that they could back their truck up to, when it was time to do the furniture.

The boxes, however, were going into the house. I unloaded the truck to the door, one daughter grabbed whatever I had, then passed it to her sister at the basement stairs. This was rather awkward because of how the doors are, and the need to make sure they got closed before any cats made a run for it.

Sir Robin did manage to get into the house once!

My poor brother, meanwhile, was having plenty of trouble. Aside from the huge job of snow blowing vehicle-with paths to their trailer and the warehouse they are beside, just in case we needed to put stuff in there – the truck was having issues. In spite of having a solar powered trickle charger all this time, the battery was dead. He had to boost it (thankfully, he has a booster pack) and had gotten it started by the time I unloaded, then went to talk to him before heading back. He was trying to drive it out, but there wasn’t enough turning radius cleared in the snow for a truck the length of his. He ended up having to dig it out manually.

After connecting with him, I headed back to my SIL. This time, loading the truck was more awkward. I needed to get the commode in, as the medical device department of home care will be picking it up from our place some time next week. It was too tall to fit under the box cover, but I managed to get it into the back of the cab, by setting it on one end. There were more boxes to put into the box, but most of what I had to get in was odd shaped stuff, including a large framed picture that my sister had left behind. I was able to get some smaller pieces of furniture in, at least.

The truck was packed about as much as I could when my brother arrived. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast, and it was well past lunch time, so we took a break for food. My brother, out of habit, shut his engine off when he meant to leave it running, and it wouldn’t start again! Thankfully, he brought his booster pack along, just in case, so he was able to get it going again. He did leave it running the entire time we were at the restaurant, and we even sat at a table where he could keep an eye on it, through the window!

We had an excellent lunch.

Since my truck was already loaded, once we were done, I headed home to unload while they went back to the apartment to start loading some furniture. This time, I was going to stay at home until they got there. The winds were still insane, though at least this time, it was at my back, so the drive was at least a bit smoother! It was still pretty hard to see the road at times – yet I still had vehicles passing me!

It wasn’t too much longer before they arrived with the first load of furniture. By this time, it was getting quite dark, and they were unloading into the storage house, which has no power. I brought out a camping lantern we now have – thanks, M! It sure came in handy! – and my brother found a place to hang it in one room, while a second large flashlight we have was used to light up the room we had to go through at the door.

My brother pretty much picked up and carried all the different pieces of furniture in, himself! He’s amazing!

Once that was done, we headed back to the apartment one last time. I was following them, but was soon left behind. The weather had gotten worse, and it was white knuckle driving quite a few times! It was bad enough that, when I got there, I brought up the idea of renting a motel room and spending the night, once everything was packed. They were going to do that drive, though. If I’d been on my own, I would have stayed in town overnight, but I was willing to do the drive, at the same time as them.

With the cap on their truck, they could fit everything left except for the mattress and box spring, both of which will be taken to the dump. That went into my truck. Unfortunately, I have a shorter box on my truck. A whole 2 inches shorter than the mattress and box spring! I do keep rachet straps in the truck now, though, so I was able to strap them down and leave the tailgate open.

After that was loaded, we went back in for one last check in everything, while my SIL took pictures and video of the empty apartment. Then, we locked it up one last time and headed out!

The road conditions were even worse. The only saving grace was that we had the wind at our backs, so the snow kicked up by oncoming traffic wasn’t quite as bad. They followed me this time, and managed to stay in view the whole way, even when we had people passing both of us at the same time! I just don’t get it. The road was barely visible, and a few times I found I had wandered into the other lane, because the road had disappeared under the swirling snow, and people were passing in this? Good grief.

Once back here, I parked the truck in the garage, since it wasn’t going to be unload this time. We got my brother’s truck unloaded – this time, he carried an entire loveseat, up the stairs and into the storage house! I was able to help with that one a tiny bit, at least.

That storage house is so jammed with stuff. We haven’t gone in there all year, and have made no effort to trying and clear it out. So much in there just needs to go to the dump! Now, we have almost all my mother’s furniture squeezed into there.

*sigh*

The boxes the girls and I got into the basement are going to have to be gone though soon. We’ll unpack what will stay in the house, but the rest will need to be repacked and taken into the storage house, somewhere, before spring, when the basements start getting wet.

After the furniture was unloaded, my brother and SIL had to transfer a few things out of it to their car or their trailer, before the truck could finally be parked back in its spot by the barn and they could finally head home. I’m still waiting in anticipation for a message telling me they arrived home safe and sound! I’m really hoping the winds have started to die down. It had started to snow lightly before it got dark, and will continue to snow, off and on, throughout the night.

Meanwhile, I’m just glad we finally got it done. It was brutal – especially with the weather! – but it’s done.

With our not being able to get our city stock up shopping, though, I’m going to have to go into town tomorrow (Sunday) and do a smaller shop. Which means we’ll have to take that mattress and box spring out of the truck, so I can close the tailgate. The dump won’t be open again until Tuesday, so that’s the earliest we can get rid of them. Unless the garage is able to get us in to get that sensor fixed/replaced. I’ll find that out on Monday.

I am so tired of winter.

According to the long range forecast, we’ve got another week of relatively milder temperatures, but then we’re supposedt to start to get highs above freezing more often than not, for the rest of February!

I can’t believe it’s already the last day of January. Where has the month gone???

I am so tired.

The Re-Farmer

It might not wait

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Today, I finally made it to my mother’s apartment. My brother and SIL had already done a huge amount. My focus was on stuff that I needed to bring here, that WON’T go into the storage buildings. Antique books. Kitchen supplies, some of which are part of sets still here on the farm. Lots of fragile stuff.

On the way out, my first stop was actually our post office. My husband’s disabled parking permit expires next month, so we had to mail in a form and $15 for a new one. With that taken care of, it was off to my mother’s apartment, which is typically about a 25 minute drive, with good road conditions.

Road conditions were good, but I was watching that oil pressure gauge slowly dropping, the drive in. By the time I got to my mother’s, it was right on the line between “normal” and “low” ranges.

Crud. With a day like today, I don’t think I can blame a cold sensor anymore.

Once at my mothers, I brought in a whole bunch of hard sided grocery bags, as the things I would be packing would be unpacked fairly quickly. Putting them in the grocery bags ensures we won’t procrastinate, since we’ll need them for our stock up shopping!

The next while was spent going through things, packing things into the bags I brought, going through a couple of boxes my brother and SIL packed and switching things over (I’m the only one in the family that has any interest in my mother’s antique crochet and embroidered items, most of which were made by her aunt). I also found some remotes, one of which I was to bring home, the other my brother needs to grab.

While I was there, someone started to come in the door – while I was in the washroom, of course! – calling out. It turned out to be the social worker from the Senior’s Centre. Perfect! She was able to take the flat folding walker they’d loaned my mother. It turns out, they also take care of the Lifeline equipment, which my brother had carefully packed all together. She took that and would take care of cancelling the account. I told her it was already suspended, so my mother wasn’t being charged full price.

After a while, I headed out to the truck with a couple of bags, then took the time to check the oil level.

It was low. Very low.

!!!

After the issues we had before, I now keep several bottles of oil and a funnel in the truck. There was one that was about 3/4 full, so I added that. I checked the oil after, and the level was in range.

Over the next while, I packed more things and took them to the truck, in stages, I ran the engine every now and then. Pressure seemed okay for a parked vehicle.

Along with packing, I was able to empty the fridge completely, and did as much cleaning as my wrecked knees would allow. Then I popped the stove’s to up so I could scrub underneath, where there was an old burned spill. Last of all, I gathered up the old prescription medications that were found, so I could take them to the pharmacy for proper disposal.

In the end, I was there for about 4 hours. I packed the truck with three boxes my brother and SIL had packed that I’d added to, plus another 7 hard sided grocery bags.

We’re doing to have to store this stuff in the basement until we can figure out what to do with them! A project for later this evening, since we need to unpack those grocery bags. I’ll need them, for our city stock up shops.

The first of which was supposed to be tomorrow.

Not going to happen.

I stopped at the pharmacy to drop off the old meds and let them know they would no longer be doing my mother’s bubble packs. So that file will go from being suspended to being cancelled, though of course we can still access her records, if needed.

Then I headed home.

Watching that oil gauge slowly dropping, the whole way.

I’d already texted our mechanic about the oil level being low and adding 3/4L, and asking about the possibility of bringing it in to look for a leak. Also, about that Journey he had on the lot he’d mentioned to me, yesterday…

I don’t know that we can wait until spring to do the trade in.

When I got home, he’d responded, asking me to keep an eye on the oil levels for the next while. I answered saying that I was home, telling him the pressure was dropping the whole drive back, and that I would check it again after unloading.

After unloading, I pulled half way into the garage, so I had room to access everything.

The oil level was low.

Just barely touching the “fill” line.

I added another half liter.

I messaged the garage before heading inside then phoned him once was was settled in.

I now have an appointment to bring it in on Thursday morning for them to see what’s going on. I won’t be doing any city trips until this is figured out.

As for that Journey… it actually does look right for our needs, though obviously there are things we can do with a truck that it can’t do. It’s a 2017 and high mileage, but anything that’s in our budget is going to be high mileage.

Its selling price is actually lower than what we still owe on the truck, I think.

Of course, I kept my brother and SIL in the loop, and my SIL wondered about using my mother’s car as a trade in.

I will need to confirm that possibility with my brother, since my mother owns half the car with me and, as her PoA, he will be the one to deal with. He might simply transfer full ownership to me to make it easier. My mother has been telling us to sell her car for years, so that would work for her, too.

Of course, no decisions are going to be made for a while, but we need to think about it. I don’t even know if we can get refinancing, though if we have two vehicles to trade in, with one owned outright, that would help. We simply can’t afford the truck. They did the best they could to get us an amazing price – I’m convinced it was sold to us at a loss – but once the taxes were added, that kicked it over, and the monthly payments have been higher than what our upper limit was. We had no choice, and it really has been hurting us financially. Not just the payments, but all the sometimes bizarre issues that have come up with the truck that have cost so much.

Speaking of which, that check engine like turned off on its own again.

I love the truck, but I will never own a GM vehicle again! Not even the Uplander gave us more grief, and the dealership screwed us over on that one. Still, I was able to buy the Uplander using my debit card. Beggars can’t be choosers!

Well, we shall see.

Tomorrow, I won’t be going anywhere. Hopefully, my sister will be able to make it to my mother’s apartment and take the things intended for her place. On the weekend, my brother is going to have to dig his own truck out of the snow and see if it starts! Depending on how things go with our truck on Thursday, we might be relying entirely on his truck to get my mother’s furniture out.

For now, I’m going to stop writing this and enjoy the supper my daughters made. 😊

Then we need to set up a sort of assembly line to get the boxes and bags into the basement, and away from cats!

The Re-Farmer

Garden inspiration, and some updates

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We are still getting hit with the polar vortex. We’re not getting the storms hitting parts of the US, but as I write this, we’ve warmed up to -27C/-17F with a wind chill of -29C/-20F. We’re staying indoors as much as possible, and avoiding going out anywhere.

Which is frustrating, but I’ll get to the why of that, later.

First, the inspiration! This video showed up in my YouTube feed. I’ve never seen this channel before. Looks very informative.

We are fortunate to have the luxury of space in our garden – space that will be utilized for accessibility and mobility – but this video covers a lot of what we are planning on, including chickens and our food forest (in this video, it’s an orchard). Fencing the entire garden is not really an option for us, given just how big it is, and how many trees there are. Cattle panels are not an option, either. I keep hearing about how cheap they are, but maybe that’s a US thing, because every place I’ve looked, they are ridiculously expensive. I’ve had stucco wire recommended by my cousin. Those are a lot more affordable, but obviously, not as heavy duty.

I’ve been wanting to have chickens for quite a few years now, and intended to build a portable coop large enough for at least a dozen chickens. That just hasn’t been happening, for a variety of reasons. So we’re breaking down and are going to try to buy a small chicken coop, with an enclosed run, on a payment plan. It’ll only fit up to 6 chickens, which would be enough to keep us in eggs a bit. That can tide us over until we can build something larger and house meat birds, too.

All in good time.

Now for the updates.

My brother got a call yesterday.

My mother’s panel for a personal care home has been approved!

That was waaaaayyy faster than I expected! They must really need her room. 😁

It does mean that she is no longer covered by our health care system, and is being charged by the day as a long term care client, rather than a patient. Meanwhile, they will find a bed for her in a temporary long term care facility and transfer her, once that happens. I expect that to go relatively quickly, too, if only because they need to free up the room she’s in.

My brother has already cancelled my mother’s cable, and today he’s gone over to pack up the cable box to send back to the company, before going to the hospital. He found a fairly recent photo of our vandal to include on her file, so that staff know who to look out for, and wanted to get that over as quickly as possible.

Now we need to focus on clearing out my mother’s apartment – but don’t throw anything away!!

She is so attached to her material goods, even to the point that she wants to control what happens to some of them to the next generation. She doesn’t actually have anything of value, really, other than in her own mind, or sentimental value – and by sentimental value, I mean for me and my siblings, mostly, because she doesn’t seem to actually have sentimental attachment to anything. She quite happily destroyed things that belonged to both my late father and my late aunt.

I need to get to my mother’s apartment and start packing and cleaning, bit by bit.

Hence the frustration.

I intended to start this some time ago, but with the cold, and now the check engine light turning on again with the truck, I have been leery of going anywhere. We only have one vehicle, and if that breaks down, we are in serious trouble.

*sigh*

I just checked the temperatures again, and it’s actually gotten colder instead of warmer. It’s still a few hours before we’re supposed to reach the high of our day.

Tomorrow is looking to be less severe, though, so I might try to head over then. After tomorrow, the extreme polar vortex temperatures should be over, and we’ll just be dealing with normal cold again, and I should be able to head over regularly.

I don’t expect we’ll have it empty by the end of the month, but we might. It’s the bigger furniture that’s going to be an issue. The loveseat she has, which matched the sofa that’s still here on the farm, is broken, though not badly. It will likely be thrown out. The mattress and box spring will have to be thrown out, of course. The rest…

*sigh*

She crammed so much into that little apartment.

My brother and SIL assured me, we’ll figure it out.

At least I won’t have to worry about all my mother’s papers, pictures and basically anything fabric. That’s my sister’s problem. We will be dealing with her kitchen supplies, nic nacs and furniture. My brother and SIL can’t really take anything, other than the papers my brother needs to take care of my mother’s affairs as PoA. I doubt they’ve even finished unpacking themselves. Where they are now is meant to be temporary, as they’ve gotten on a list for a privately run supportive living apartment in a complex that was still under construction when they sold their acreage. The waiting list was already years long but, once there’s an opening, they need to be able to move quickly.

Little by little, it’ll get done.

The Re-Farmer

Got it done. Plus an update

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It took about 1 1/2 hours, but it’s done.

The plow went by, increasing the snow ridge at the end of the driveway. It really wasn’t that bad and we could have driven through. The problem is, between the plow ridges and the driving, the end of the driveway was getting narrower and narrower. I needed to get that opened up, before the next polar vortex hits.

I love that ice scraper. It does a bang up job of cutting through hard packed plow ridge snow!

Technically, today was warmer, and there was less wind, but even a slight breeze brought was was -20C/-4F to a “real feel” of -31C/-24F. I was well bundled but, by the end of it, my toes and finger tips were starting to feel it!

While I was out there, my mother called from the hospital. I didn’t see my daughter’s message until I was putting things away, almost an hour later. My mother apparently sounded frustrated.

So when I called back, I made sure to talk to the nurse, first. I found out that she has been refusing her afternoon pain meds. Because she’s been in so much pain with her back, and the Voltaren wasn’t enough anymore, they now have she scheduled to take painkillers 3 times a day, instead of “as needed”. She’s apparently been having better days and saying no to the pills.

When talking to her about it later, she told me, she’s taking so many pills! Which makes it sound like it isn’t that she’s in less pain, but that she just doesn’t want to take another pill.

*sigh*

I asked the nurse about my mother getting Xrays, but she could find nothing on the file about it. She made notes to talk to the doctor about it. I also brought up that we need to have a meeting with the doctor, so she made notes for someone that can check his schedule, and to call my brother to book a time. My schedule is flexible, so I can work around his.

Then I got transferred to my mother’s room.

*sigh*

She was shouting right from her “hello”. It actually hurt my ears. When I asked her why she was shouting, it was “so you can hear me.”

Yeah, Mom. I can hear you. So can everyone outside your door and down the hall!

No, I didn’t say that out loud.

She then starting complaining. No one is calling. No one is visiting. No one cares (she includes the hospital staff on that). Why doesn’t my brother call or visit?

So I told her about his going to her place to replace the window from the AC set up, then about the woman who fell. She actually knows the woman, as she often does the Gospel readings in church. When I told her about the fall and my brother taking her to the hospital, she only wanted to know, which hospital. I told her, and she started saying, she has children, why did my brother drive her. Her (adult) children weren’t there (I think they live in the city!). Even when I told her, my brother probably saved her life, because if he hadn’t seen her, there was a good chance she would have frozen to death before anyone got to her.

She didn’t care.

She also didn’t have any appreciation for my brother going out to her apartment in the severe cold, getting the window done, helping a neighbour, and still driving her to the farm to drop off the AC, in the dark.

Instead, she kept complaining about how no one calls or visits her. I finally told her that, right then, she was making me regret calling her back, and called her out on how nasty she was being.

She – sarcastically – thanked me for being open with her.

*sigh*

After that, the call was better. She did complain that money was probably taken from her bank account for her apartment. I told her that she IS still renting it. All her things are still there. Of course she has to pay for it. That got us to talking about her things and what she wants done with them.

Don’t throw anything away, she keeps saying.

We’ve got an entire building filled with personal belongings we packed from this house – a building we could really use as the workshop it used to be – that she insists we don’t throw away. Now, we’ll have more, and we’ve already run out of storage space.

Then she demanded I tell her what I planned to do with a particular mirror she’s had stuck in her storage closet for the past 10 years. Something she gets obsessed about, every now and then. I finally had to tell her, don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.

Then she started going on about how, really, my sister should be taking care of her more, she and her husband are both on pension, she doesn’t need to be working, she should be taking care of Mom.

I’m sure my sister has been nagged about that a few times, already!

I was eventually able to get a word in – right after she told me, she wants to get out of there! – and told her, I think her problem is, she’s bored. She’s there by herself, with nothing to do, and she’s bored. We talked about it a bit, and she agreed. She is bored and lonely! Which, I told her, is completely understandable!

Well, this post got interrupted by a call from my brother.

We have a meeting booked with the doctor. They got us in as quickly as they could, and it’s an evening meeting, so that works for my brother. It was noted that, since we are dealing with cognitive issues with my mother, she won’t be there, and won’t even be told about it. Our concern was that, if she knew in advance, she’d end up telling our vandal about it, and he could cause problems.

It sucks having to even consider these things.

As for me, I am done for the day. I’m glad I got the end of the driveway cleared, but I’m really going to be paying for it, tonight, even with my meds!

I have to admit, though, I did quite enjoy the shoveling!

The Re-Farmer